Index attachment for books



(No Model.)

W. D. BEVIN. INDEX ATTACHMENT FOR OOKS.

No. 482,612. Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM D. BEVIN, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

INDEX ATTACHMENT FOR BOOKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,612, dated September 13, 1892.

Application filed May 16,1892. Serial No. 483,125. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM D. BEVIN, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Index Attachment for Books, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an index attachment for books, and especially to a means for attaching indexes to letter-books.

The object of the invention is to provide a device through the medium of which an index maybe flexibly connected with one of the leaves of the book to be operated independently of the back of the book.

Another object of the invention is to so lo cate the flexible connection between the index and the leaf of the book that when the book is closed the index may be drawn out from the book to lie flat in front thereof and in such position that the leaves of the index may be readily turned when desired, and whereby, also, the leaf to which the index is attached will be so constructed that it may be expeditiously and conveniently raised, raising withit allthe leaves of the book resting thereon, and create a space into which the index may be slid when not in use, and whereby when the index is within the space it will be to all intents and purposes concealed.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafterfully set forth, and point ed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a perspective view of a lettercopying book open, illustrating the index as practically constituting one of the leaves of the book. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the book open and the index drawn partially out therefrom, illustrating the flexible connection between the index and a leaf of the book; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a letter-book open,the index drawn entirely out therefrom, and a portion of the cover of the index being broken away.

In carrying out the invention at the back or at the front of the book A, preferably at the back, a fly-leaf 10 is located. This leaf is preferably made of a stout material, the material being stouter than that from which the leaves proper of the book are made, and this fly-leaf is provided with a reinforcingstrip 11 at its outer edge, extending from end to end, which reinforcing-strip may be made of leather, fabric, metal, or any approved material.

The index B may be of any approved type. The index shown in the drawings is constructed so that its leaves fold outward from the side edges of the book-back when the book is open, and this form of index is preferably employed, although if in practice it is found desirable the leaves of the index may be made to fold upward beyond the upper edge of the book. The connection between the index and the book is a flexible one, and preferably consists of a strip 12 of fabric of a suitable length and width, the width of the fabric corresponding, practically, to the length of the book, and thelength of the fabricis regulated according to the distance that the index is to be removed from the book when in use. One end of the fabric strip 12 is secured to the fly-leaf 10, the attachment being preferably made upon the outer face of the fly-leaf, or that face which fronts the inner face of the cover. The attachment between the flexible strip and the fly-leaf may be made through the medium of a cement, glue, eyelets, or the equivalents thereof, and the point at which the attachment between the strip and the flyleaf is made is at any point which seems in practice most desirable between the reinforcing-strip 11 of the fly-leaf and the edge of the cover. The opposite end of the flexible strip 12 is attached in any approved manner to the front cover-page 13 of the index. The attachment having been made between the index and the fly-leaf of the book, the front edge of the index is placed between the back of the book and the fiy-leaf, and the index is then dropped to lie upon the fly-leaf,as shown in Fig. 1, the back of the index being provided with an attached loop 14:, whereby it may be withdrawn. Thus when the book is closed the index will be located between the fly-leaf 10 and the back cover of the book, the back of the index facing outward.

In operation the reinforced edge 11 of the fiy-leaf 10 is slightly raised with the fingers of one hand, the loop 14, attached to the index, is grasped by the fingers of the other hand, and the index is then drawn straight outward from the book until its front edge is even with or just passes the outer side edge of the back cover of the book, as shown in Fig. 3, the length of the flexible strip 12 being so calculated as to produce this result. The index may now be folded out for use. When through indexing, the index may be quickly and conveniently returned to the book by simply raising the fly-leaf, by grasping its reinforced edge, and sliding the index between the fly-leaf and the cover of the book, the open edge of the index facinginward, until the index is practically concealed. The fly-leaf 10 is made Wider than the otherleaves in the book in order that its reinforced or stiffened edge may be expeditiously and securely grasped.

In Fig. 2 the attachment between the flyleaf and the index is most clearly shown, and it is obvious that an attachment between a fly-leaf and an index may be more effectually and economically accomplished than between the cover of a book and an index; furthermore, that it is more desirable to connectthe the index with the fly-leaf than with the cover, as the latter is left unobstructed, and any memoranda -such as loose letters, &c.may be laid upon the innerface of thecoverand the book be properly closed, which could not be accomplished were the attachment made directly between the cover and the index. Again, the fly-leaf can be made'of a material which will admit of the flexible strip being drawn violently outward without disconnecting it, while the material usually employed as the inner facing of the covers of letterbooks is of such character that when undue strain is brought to bear upon anythingglued to it the facing readily peels off and the object attached to the cover readilyleaves it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The combination, with a book having aflyleaf 10, of stout material, provided along its free edge with a reinforce ll, of the index B and the strip 12, secured at one edge to the leaf 10 between its front and. rear edges and at its opposite edge secured to the free edge of one cover 13 of the index, substantially as set forth.

VILLIAM D. BEVIN.

Witnesses:

J. B. AIKMAN, W. A. HAMILTON. 

